Oxford Systematics With news from Oxford University Herbaria (OXF and FHO), Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford

OPS 16 May 2009

Miscellaneous specimens of marine algae from the herbarium included in the exhibition at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History Foreword Contents The big event for the Department of Plant Sciences in 2008 was its success in the UK Research Assessment Exercise; the Foreword th Department was ranked 4 out of 52 Stephen A. Harris ………….…………..………………………………… 2 Biological Sciences Research Institutions in the UK. Oxford Plant Systematics presents a News items ………………………………………………………….……… 2 glimpse of the range of systematic activities happening in the Department of Plant Sciences. This year we have research-based Publications 2008 ………………………………………………….………. 3 articles on the Darwin project based in Bolivia, the biogeography of the genus Abstract of systematic thesis submitted in 2008 and updates on recent developments Marcelo Simon ………………………………………………….….…… 3 in mapping diversity using BRAHMS. Reports by our D.Phil students cover plant Student reports diversification in Andean seasonally dry Pattern and tempo of plant diversification in Andean seasonally tropical forests and a new project on nickel dry tropical forests hyperaccumulation in the Eurasian genus Alyssum. Marcelo Simon is to be Tiina Sarkinen …………………………………………………….……. 4 congratulated on successfully defending his D.Phil. thesis on the biogeography of South The evolutionary ecology of nickel hyperaccumulation in Alyssum L. American Mimosa. Wider collaborations and related species across the university, especially with the Tom Flynn ……………………………………………………….….….. 5 Oxford University Libraries Service, are reflected in the articles on George Druce’s Rock outcrops in the Cerrado biome – hotspots of endemism ? Birthday Book and the watercolours of the John R.I. Wood ……………………………………………………..….. 5 amateur botanical artist Charlotte Trower. The herbaria have users other than researchers and students, and some of these Evolution and biogeography of Aglaia uses are revealed by a collaborative Caroline Pannell ……………………………………………….……… 7 exhibition of marine algae held at the University Museum of Natural History and The Trower sisters and George Claridge Druce the work of the artist Sarah Simblet. I hope Stephen A. Harris …………………………………………….…….….. 8 you enjoy reading OPS 16. George Claridge Druce's Birthday Book Stephen A. Harris Oliver Bridle ……………………………………………………….…. 10 Curator of Oxford University Herbaria News from the Herbaria Visitors, Fielding-Druce (OXF) and Daubeny (FHO) News items Serena Marner ……………………………………………………..…. 12

Unstill lives. An artist working in the herbarium We are delighted to announce that Dr Colin Hughes was appointed as Departmental Sarah Simblet ……………………………………….……………….... 13 Lecturer in Plant Sciences from October 2008. Colin was formerly a Royal Society Mapping diversity using BRAHMS 6.5. University Research Fellow. Denis Filer …………………………………………..……….……….. 16

Colin Hughes attended the 12th Inter- national Lupin Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia in September where he Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford presented a keynote talk entitled, Diversity and evolutionary history of lupins – insights OX1 3RB, U.K. Tel. +44 (0) 1865 275000 from new phylogenies. Oxford Plant Systematics Research Group website: http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk An exhibition of marine algae at the Oxford University Museum of Natural Typsetting and layout of this issue by Serena Marner History was staged between 4 December Oxford Plant Systematics printed by Parchments of Oxford 2008 and 4 February 2009 drawing on the collections of the herbarium. The aim of the exhibition was to heighten awareness of the importance and beauty of algae. Cover images : Marine algae - (top; left to right) Caulerpa paspaloides (Bory) Grev.; Delesseria sanguinea (Huds.) J.V.Lamouroux; Padina pavonica (L.) Thivy. (middle; left to A new commentary on the Thornton's right) Calliblepharis ciliata (Huds.) Kütz.; Desmarestia ligulata (Stackhouse) Temple of Flora was written by Stephen J.V.Lamouroux; Calliblepharis jubata (Gooden. & Woodward) Kütz. (bottom; left to right) Harris and published by the Folio Society Caulerpa peltata J.V.Lamouroux var. macrodisca (Decne.) Weber-van Bosse; Rhodophyllis as part of a complete reprint of this famous gunnii (Harv.) Harv.; Sargassum vulgare C.Agardh. illustrated book.

2 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 Publications 2008 Hawthorne, W.D., Hughes, C.E. (2008) Abstract of systematic Optimising linear taxon sequences derived from phylogenetic trees - a reply to Haston thesis submitted in & al. Taxon 57: 698-704. Bennett, J.R., Wood, J.R.I., Scotland, 2008 R.W. (2008) Uncorrelated variation in Miller, J.S., Wood, J.R.I. (2008) New widespread species: Species delimitation in Boraginaceae from tropical America 6: a Strobilanthes echinata Nees (Acanthaceae) new species of Varronia from Bolivia. The following D.Phil. thesis was submitted Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society Novon 18: 86-89. in December 2008: 156: 131-141. Muellner, A. N., Pannell, C.M., Coleman, Systematics and evolution of Bontemps, C., Elliott, G.N., James, E.K., A., Chase, M.W. (2008) The origin and Mimosa L. (Leguminosae) and Sprent, J.I., Simon, M.F., Hughes, C.E., evolution of Indomalesian, Australasian and Young, J.P.W. (2008) In search of beta- the assembly of a Neotropical Pacific island biotas: insights from Aglaieae rhizobia: exploring the symbionts of plant diversity hotspot (, ). Journal of Mimosa in Brazil. In Dakora, F.D., Biogeography 35: 1769-1789. Marcelo Simon Chimphango, S.B.M., Valentine, A.J., Wolfson College Elmerich, C., Newton, W.E. (eds.) Springer, Pannell, C.M. (2007) Aglaia Dordrecht. Biological Nitrogen Fixation: (Meliaceae). Tree Flora of Sabah and Supervisors: Drs Colin Hughes and Stephen Towards Poverty Alleviation through Sarawak 6: 24-107. FRIM, . Harris. Clarendon scholarship and Embrapa. Sustainable Agriculture, pp. 251-252. Pannell, C.M. (2008) A key to Aglaia The causes of differences in species Eastwood, R.J., Hughes, C.E. (2008) (Meliaceae) in Australia, with a description diversity across the globe and the processes Origins of domestication of Lupinus of a new species, A. cooperae, from Cape prompting accumulation of hotspots of mutabilis in the Andes. In Palta, J.A., York Peninsula, Queensland. Journal of the diversity remain poorly understood. The Burger, J.B. (eds.) Lupins for Health & Adelaide Botanic Gardens 22: 67-71. central objective of this thesis is to Wealth. Proceedings 12th International investigate macro-evolutionary processes Lupin Conference, Fremantle, Australia. Pointinger, S., Promdang, S., Vajrodaya, S., involved in the historical assembly of International Lupin Association, Pannell, C.M., Hofer, O., Mereiter, K., species-rich biomes using the flora of the Canterbury, New Zealand, pp. 373-379. Greger, H. (2008) Silvaglins and related 2,3- Cerrado as a study system. Specifically, the secodammarane derivatives - unusual types study aimed to test the hypothesis that the Eastwood, R.J., Drummond, C.S., of triterpenes from Aglaia silvestris. evolution of the Cerrado flora coincided Schifino-Wittmann, M.T., Hughes, C.E. Phytochemistry 69: 2696-2703. with the emergence and dominance of (2008) Diversity and evolutionary history flammable C4 grasses and the consequent of lupins – insights from new phylogenies. Poorter, L., Hawthorne, W.D., Bongers, F., appearance of fire as a natural element in In Palta, J.A., Burger, J.B. (eds.) Lupins for Sheil, D. (2008) Maximum size distributions this ecosystem. Time-calibrated phylogenies Health & Wealth. Proceedings 12th in tropical forest communities: relationships for a set of plant groups representing 3-4% International Lupin Conference, Fremantle, with rainfall and disturbance. Journal of of the flora of the Cerrado suggest that Australia. International Lupin Association, Ecology 96: 495-504. Cerrado lineages started to diversify less Canterbury, New Zealand, pp. 346-354. than 10 million years ago, with the majority Thorogood, C.J., Rumsey, F.J., Harris, of lineages younger than four million years, Fagg, C.W., Harris, S.A. (2008) (1843) S.A., Hiscock, S.J. (2008) Host-driven coinciding with dominance of flammable C4 Proposal to conserve the name Acacia divergence in the parasitic plant Orobanche grasses and expansion of the savanna biome goetzei against A. andongensis minor Sm. (Orobanchaceae). Molecular worldwide. These phylogenies suggest that (Leguminosae) Taxon 57: 1001-1002. Ecology 17: 4289-4303. Cerrado lineages evolved from immediately adjacent, largely fire-free wet forest, Greger, H., Hofer, M., Teichmann, K., Wise, R. (2008) Review of: Gyllene seasonally dry forest, subtropical grassland, Schinnerl, J., Pannell, C.M., Vajrodaya, S., Snittet HB's Linneaus' Oland and Gotland and wetlands, implying that the cerrado Hofer, O. (2008) Amide-esters from Aglaia Journey 1741. The Linnean: 24: 40. formed in situ via recent and frequent tenuicaulis – first representatives of a class adaptive shifts to resist fire. The location of of compounds structurally related to Wood, J.R.I. (2008) A revision of Tecoma the cerrado, surrounded by a diverse array bisamides and flavaglines. Phytochemistry Juss. (Bignoniaceae) in Bolivia. Botanical of biomes, and the apparently modest 69: 928-938. Journal of the Linnean Society 156: 143- adaptive barrier posed by fire are likely to 172. have contributed to its striking species James, E.K., Elliott, G.N., Chen, W-M., richness. These findings add to growing Bontemps, C., Young, J.P.W., de Faria, evidence that the origins and historical S.M., dos Reis Jnr, F.B., Simon, M.F., assembly of species-rich biomes have been Gross, E., Loureiro, M.F., Reis, V.M., Perin, driven by unique features of regional and L, Boddey, R.M., Hughes, C.E., Moulin, continental scale processes. L., Prescott, A.R., Sprent, J.I. (2008) A new phylogenetic analysis of the legume Infection of legumes by beta-rhizobia. In family using matK gene sequences and a Dakora, F.D., Chimphango, S.B.M., relaxed molecular clock approach including Valentine, A.J., Elmerich, C., Newton, 839 terminals and 23 fossil constraints was W.E. (eds.) Springer, Dordrecht. Biological undertaken to estimate ages of the legume nitrogen fixation: towards poverty groups used in this study. Analyses on this alleviation through sustainable agriculture, scale are methodologically challenging and pp. 249-250. computationally demanding. This is by far the most complete analysis of relationships Harris, S.A. (2008) The Temple of Flora and ages for the legume family and provides Commentary. The Folio Society, London. Begonia glandulifera drawn for the Checklist of a solid comparative framework for future Trinidad and Tobago by Rosemary Wise analyses aimed at understanding the

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 3 evolutionary success of this large plant Mimosa, on the other hand, has been family. challenging purely due to its size. With ca. As part of this study the first substantial 500 species, it is one of the largest legume molecular phylogeny for the species-rich genera and is very widely distributed across legume genus Mimosa was constructed several different Neotropical biomes. In using trnD-trnT plastid DNA sequences of order to investigate the timing and 259 species (50% of the total). This new diversification of Mimosa in the Andes, I phylogeny was used to test the monophyly have added DNA sequence data for 73 of Mimosa, evaluate the current infrageneric Andean accessions into the preliminary classification of the genus, investigate the phylogeny recently constructed for the evolution of a set of core morphological genus as a whole by Marcelo Simon in characters, and establish new biogeographic Oxford. Building on Marcelo’s dataset, I hypotheses about the temporal and have now sampled nearly all the Andean geographic patterns of species diver- SDTF Mimosa taxa, most with multiple sification. One of the most striking findings accessions, and aim to use this more densely is the high level of geographic structure sampled tree to estimate the ages and found in the Mimosa phylogeny. The age geographical structure of the Andean and relationships of the Old World species Mimosa lineages which comprise sets of of Mimosa are revealed for the first time and narrow endemics restricted to single inter- shown to be deeply nested within New Andean valleys. World groups, suggesting recent long Results for my third study group, Amicia distance dispersal to account for the amphi- (Leguminosae), have now been written as a Atlantic distribution of Mimosa. Fig. 1 A new Mimosa species from Jaén, northern draft monographic taxonomic account of the Four new species of Mimosa are described Peru. This species is closely allied to another genus including descriptions of two new and illustrated, all of them apparently Marañon endemic, M. weberbaueri Harms. infraspecific taxa, an identification key to narrowly restricted endemics from the species, detailed distribution maps, Chapada dos Veadeiros in Goiás, central botanical illustrations and a new, densely Brazil. In addition, complete data and an Mimosa (Leguminosae). Both of these sampled phylogeny of the genus based on illustration for the poorly understood M. genera have been challenging to work with both nrDNA and cpDNA data. The pycnocoma Benth., previously incompletely in their own ways. Tecoma, despite being a biogeography of Amicia and the wider known from only the type collection, is relatively small genus of ca. 11 species Adesmia clade, where Amicia belongs are presented. mainly restricted to the Andean SDTFs, is discussed based on this new time-calibrated taxonomically difficult despite recent efforts phylogeny. to clarify species delimitation (Gentry, One of the biggest surprises for me has 1992; Wood, 2008). Some of the taxonomic Student reports been the very incomplete state of knowledge difficulties are likely caused by hybrid- of plant species diversity in the Andean isation between species, and this is reflected SDTFs. Based on only two field trips to the in complex patterns of incongruence rd Marañon valley in northern Peru, we have Tiina Särkinen (D.Phil., 3 year). between gene trees constructed using discovered two new Mimosa species. The Pattern and tempo of plant chloroplast (cpDNA), nuclear ribosomal first was spotted close to the main road diversification in Andean (nrDNA) and low-copy nuclear gene leading across the Andes from the seasonally dry tropical forests (nDNA) sequences.

Supervised by Dr Colin Hughes (Oxford) and Dr Toby Pennington (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh). Osk.Huttusen Säätiö and Helsingin Sanomain 100- vuotisjuhlasäätiö scholarships.

The focus of my D.Phil. is on geographical and temporal patterns of plant diversification in Andean seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF). These SDTFs, although not as species-rich as wet forests, are especially rich in narrowly-restricted endemics, and the origins of this high endemism remain poorly understood. The markedly disjunct distribution of SDTF with isolated patches scattered from northern Mexico to Argentina and Paraguay suggests that long-term isolation (dispersal limitation), or a more continuous distrib- ution of these forests and their subsequent vicariant fragmentation, could have driven species diversification and high endemism. Distinguishing between these alternative hypotheses is the central aim of my research. During the year, I have focussed on Fig. 2 One of the largest patches of dry forests in the northern part of the Marañon valley, at Gota de Aguas near the town of Jaén. This forest is a private nature reserve, protected by the passionate building species-level molecular phylo- owner, Luciano Troyes Rivero. The forest is regenerating from selective logging and grazing genies for Tecoma (Bignoniaceae) and disturbance during the 1960s.

4 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 PanAmerican Highway. The second was Tom Flynn (D.Phil., 1st year) The southwest Europe, both of which are discovered and collected, along the roadside evolutionary ecology of nickel hotspots for Alyssum species. during field work in April-May 2008 hyperaccumulation in Alyssum L. involving a survey of tree diversity in and related species vegetation plots in the same area (Fig. 1). It Rock outcrops in the seems that although these SDTFs are now Supervised by Professor Andrew Smith and quite accessible, they still remain under- Dr Stephen Harris. NERC funded. Cerrado biome – collected and poorly known botanically. Data on amphibian, reptile, mammal and hotspots of endemism? My research focuses on species within the avian diversity for the Marañon valley and tribe Alysseae (Brassicaceae), of which the other Andean dry forests (Tumbes-Piura, majority belong to the large genus Alyssum Ecuadorian, Chiquitano and Bolivian The Cerrado biome covers much of eastern (c. 200 species). Some of these have montane dry forests), (World Wildlife Fund Bolivia and central Brazil. It is a mosaic of the ability to tolerate very high 2009) suggest that the Marañon valley is by savanna-type vegetation mixed with dry concentrations of soil nickel (up to 0.8% of far the most species- and endemic-rich of forest. From the air it appears to be a dry mass), and about 50 species also have the Andean dry valleys with total endemism continuous plain covered by a patchwork of the remarkable ability to hyperaccumulate as high as 43%. Levels of endemism are forest alternating with pasture and areas this element within their above-ground parts especially high for reptiles (54%) and birds cleared for agriculture. The average atlas to concentrations as high as 2.4% of dry (58%) (WWF, 2009; Bird Life International, gives no more idea of the region’s biomass. In many cases the species that 2009). Unlike some other Andean SDTFs, topographical diversity, suggesting it is one exhibit these unusual traits appear to be there are no protected areas in the Marañon vast area of woodland and savannah broken endemic to relatively small areas of valley. The establishment of the Tabaconas- only by the occasional low ridge. The reality serpentine-derived soils, which are naturally Namballe National Sanctuary (295 km2) in is very different. There are indeed extensive ultramafic (metal-rich). Interest in plant 1988 by the Peruvian Government was a undulating plains but these contain swampy species that can tolerate and hyper- significant step forward, but the area still hollows and small lakes alternating with accumulate heavy metals, such as nickel, lacks formal protection or baseline studies steep-sided ridges and isolated mountain stems partly from their potential use in the of plant species diversity (WDPA, 2009). peaks, reaching heights equal to those of the remediation of polluted industrial and However, there is growing interest and highest mountains in Scotland. Some form mining sites, but also from the broader awareness of the conservation importance of extensive plateaux or mesetas like lost evolutionary question of how such traits these dry forests within Peru. Some worlds isolated from the plains below. And evolved. individual land owners around Jaén are wherever the land rises above the plains I am interested in identifying the protecting remaining areas of dry forest there are rocks. mechanism of diversification within the from grazing, fire and timber exploitation At lower altitudes are huge flat or gently Alysseae, and in particular, determining (Fig. 2). The Universidad Nacional Agraria sloping rock slabs usually hidden by trees. whether the large number of nickel La Molina herbarium has a strong research In some areas granite domes rise like huge tolerators and hyperaccumulators within the focus in the area, and José Luis Marcelo beached whales out of the plain. Then there tribe result from multiple origins of these Peña is currently working on a much-needed are the escarpment slopes themselves, traits through local adaptation, or from the plant checklist and field guide for the area. mostly steep sandstone cliffs largely devoid region-wide dispersal and subsequent In the coming months I plan to integrate of vegetation except in steep gullies. differentiation of an initially small number and synthesize the growing set of plant Occasionally huge rock pillars separated by of tolerator and hyperaccumulator species. I phylogenies that include dense sampling of geological accident from their parent will be asking how many times the tolerance Andean SDTF species to shed light on the escarpment stand like isolated sentinels. and hyperaccumulation traits evolved, and origins and historical assembly of the And the mesetas are not flat grassy lawns whether it is easier for nickel tolerators to endemic plant diversity of these poorly but are capped with rock outcrops which evolve or to move. known Andean dry forests. form natural arches and small rock towers. My approach will be to construct a Although it has been known for some time phylogeny that includes as many species References from studies in Brazil (Coile & Jones, 1981, from the tribe as possible, and then to Simon & Proença, 2000) that the higher attempt to determine the extent to which this Bird Life International (2009) EBA mountains of the cerrados are hotspots for phylogeny correlates with the geographic factsheet 049 – Marañon valley. rare and endemic plant species, it is distribution of species and their status as http://www.birdlife.org/ becoming obvious from the work of the nickel tolerators or hyperaccumulators. Darwin Initiative Project “Conservation of This year I am concentrating on growing Gentry, A.H. (1992) Bignoniaceae – Part II the cerrados of eastern Bolivia” that rock plants from the extensive seed bank built up (Tribe Tecomeae). Flora Neotropica outcrops at lower altitudes are also by Prof. Andrew Smith and Prof. Alan Monograph 25: 273-293. important sites for rare and endemic species. Baker (formerly University of Melbourne), The rock domes that dot the cerrados of which will add to the tissue collection of WDPA (2009) World Database on Protected eastern Bolivia are always fascinating to Roger Reeves and Robert Brookes (both Areas. http://www.wdpa.org explore, at least after any period of rain. formerly Massey University, New Zealand) There is a very distinctive tree vegetation that was kindly provided by Roger last year. Wood, J.R.I. (2008) A revision of Tecoma along the fringes commonly dominated by I am also constructing a chloroplast Juss. (Bignoniaceae) in Bolivia. Botanical the only neotropical species of the common phylogeny using regions such as ndhF and Journal of the Linnean Society 156: 143- East African genus, Commiphora, C. trnL-F. I will set up a growth experiments to 172. leptophloeos (Mart.) J.B.Gillett. Isolated measure plant growth under a range of trees on the rock dome are often surrounded nickel concentrations, including those WWF (2009) The Terrestrial Ecoregion by a circle of viciously spiny bromeliads, experienced by plants growing in normal Database. most commonly Deuterocohnia meziana and in ultramafic soils. http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/ecore Kuntze ex Mez. or Dykia leptostachya In the next year or so I will investigate gions Baker. These protect vulnerable plants from suitable nuclear markers to include in my grazing animals and the occasional phylogenetic analysis, and I want to carry marauding botanist. Then in hollows in the out field work in either southeast or rock there develops a curious ephemeral

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 5 Granite rock dome of El Cerrito in the Lomerio region Meseta of the Serranía de Santiago de Chiquitos with rock pillars

Chaemaecrista chiquitana from El Cerrito Hippeastrum starkiorum from Santiago de Chiquitos

Pink-flowered Ipomoea sp. growing at El Cerrito Praxelis chiquitensis from Santiago de Chiquitos

All photos on this page courtesy of the Darwin Initiative Project 16-004

6 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 aquatic vegetation which includes several small herb with white flowers in the family taxonomic monograph (Pannell, 1992), it species of the insectivorous bladderworts, Rubiaceae, Galianthe chiquitosiana became clear that Lydekker’s line, which Utricularia and the rare Iris, Onira E.L.Cabral. These five species only occur in delimits the Sahul continental shelf, on unguiculata (Baker) Rav., which is known a few similar places on the neighbouring which New Guinea and Australia sit, only from a handful of collections from hills but are unknown anywhere else in the represents a boundary between pre- eastern Bolivia and Matto Grosso in Brazil. world, and nowhere else, even in the near dominantly west-Malesian species of Aglaia One particular rock dome, named El vicinity, do they all grow together. Nor are and the eastern species. Lydekker’s line was Cerrito, in the Lomerio region has proved to these the only plants of great interest. There originally based on a disjunction between be of particular interest as three species are several others which we still cannot animal groups. It is one of a series of lines, endemic to eastern Bolivia grow here, two identify while other very rare species occur the first of which was Wallace’s Line, of which occur apparently only on this rock. such as the tiny Paepalanthus jahnii located in the Strait of Lombok between The dome itself is a steeply sloping rounded Ruhland, which only grows in rock crevices Bali and Lombok. Wallace’s line is one of monster rising out of the surrounding here and in Matto Grosso. the most distinct faunal boundaries in the cerradão vegetation. It is mostly smooth, What makes the rock outcrops so world. Modified by Huxley (1868), it bare rock but isolated small trees have important as hotspots for endemic species? coincided with the eastern edge of the Sunda established themselves in crevices. It is Certainly altitude is not the only factor. continental shelf, which bears the Malay amongst the patches of spiny Deuterocohnia Clearly they provide a refuge from the Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the meziana that surround each tree that the burning which is a defining feature of the Philippine island of Palawan. Alfred Russell endemic plants grow. At the very edge of cerrado biome, in which they occur. Wallace first mentioned his line in January the patch is Chaemaecrista chiquitana Equally, they could have provided a rare 1858 in a letter to Henry Bates. This, Barneby, representative of a very diverse open habitat in previous eras when moister incidentally, was during the month before genus of legumes in the cerrados but this forest covered what is now cerrado. Rare the famous paper, authored by Wallace and species only known from this rock. In plants could have survived in these Charles Darwin, entitled ‘On the tendency amongst the prickly Deuterocohnia grows relatively unchanging rock habitats until of varieties to depart indefinitely from the another legume with curious pallid flowers today. And the future? The rocks may well original type’ was read to the Linnean and deeply lobed leaves. This is Vigna provide a secure haven from anthropo- Society. The area between the lines is called sublobata Verdc., found some 12 years ago morphic habitat change. Forests can be ‘Wallacea’ which consists of a deep oceanic on another granite dome a hundred cleared, cerrados grubbed up and planted trench, from which emerge the islands of the kilometres to the north, growing in an with exotic pasture grasses but the rock (excluding Palawan), Sulawesi, almost identical habitat. Here at El Cerrito it plants will probably remain safe until the the Lesser Sunda Islands (excluding Bali), is even more abundant. However, our most danger from human interference recedes in and Maluku (excluding the Aru islands). interesting discovery was a species of the distant future. These lines were traditionally thought to be Ipomoea, or Morning Glory, with pink more important for animals than for plants. flowers. Its finely dissected leaves References They apply to animals at a higher taxonomic combined with an unusual calyx structure level than for plants, but similar patterns can indicate that it is almost certainly a new Coile, N.C., Jones, S.B. (1981) be detected in plants within individual species. This bare rock with its patches of Lychnophora (Compositae –Vernoniae), a families and genera, such as the vegetation, is therefore, home to at least genus endemic to the Brazilian planalto. Dipterocarpaceae and Aglaia (Pannell & three plants unknown outside Bolivia, two Brittonia 33: 528-542. White 1988). of which only grow here. An analysis of the distribution of Aglaia The summit of the escarpment at Santiago, Goyder, D.J. (2009) Blepharodon species, defined by their morphology, variously known as “El Mirador” for its crabronum (Apocynaceae: showed that only 10 species occur on both spectacular views or “El Organo” for its Asclepiadoideae), a new species from the sides of Wallacea, whilst 67 species occur strange rock formations, is capped by a pre-Cambrian serranias of eastern Bolivia. only to the west of Lydekker’s line and 37 group of curious sandstone towers, whose Kew Bulletin 64 (1): 179-181. species occur only to the east. The majority bases lie in partial shade. The steep sides are of species found in Wallacea are shared with deeply pockmarked with holes which Simon, M.F., Proença, C. (2000) Sundaland, four are endemic and three are provide ideal nesting places for hornets. It Phytogeographic patterns of Mimosa shared with New Guinea. Of the 10 species was on my first visit that I met the hornets. (Mimosoideae-Leguminosae) in the found on both sides of Wallacea, all but one David Goyder and I spotted the strange Cerrado biome of Brazil: an indicator genus is either variable or complex in Asclepiad illustrated in the previous edition of high-altitude centers of endemism? morphological characters. Aglaia cucullata of Oxford Plant Systematics (Wood, 2008) Biological Conservation 96: 279-296. (Roxb.) Pellegrin, the one non-variable growing on the rock face. I climbed up to species, grows in estuaries and mangrove- collect what would be the type collection of Wood, J.R.I. (2008) New Darwin Project in forest and is probably at least partly Blepharodon crabronum Goyder (Goyder, Bolivia. Oxford Plant Systematics 15: 3-4. dispersed by water. It was therefore clear 2009) disturbing a hornets nest in the that, if the variable and complex species process. I returned to earth fast clutching the John R. I. Wood could be resolved, the species of Aglaia specimen in my hand while the hornets Research Associate might prove to be almost entirely different attacked the spectators below. These cliffs on either side of Wallacea. There are two are the main site for a small composite, ways for this distinction to have arisen. Praxelis chiquitensis (B.L.Rob.) R.M.King Evolution and Either, one species was dispersed across the & H.Rob, which is common on the rock seas between West Malesia and East faces but only known from tiny populations Biogeography of Aglaia Malesia and radiated independently on the on a few other nearby cliffs. In the shade at two sides of Wallacea or several species the foot of the rocks is the yellow-flowered crossed the ‘barrier’ and each was modified bromeliad, Pitcairnia mohammadii Ibisch & Two approaches, morphology and molecular morphologically after establishment to the R. Vasquez, while in rock crevices there phylogeny, have illuminated our under- east of Lydekker’s line. Seventeen years grows the spectacular amaryllid standing of the historical biogeography of later, when a molecular phylogeny, built by Hippeastrum starkiorum (I.S.Nelson & the south east Asian genus Aglaia Dr Alexandra Muellner, was published, Traub) Van Scheepen. More modest is a (Meliaceae). During preparation of the evidence for both processes was found

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 7 Map showing the series of lines, based on distribution of animal taxa, related to the Sunda and Sahul shelves and Wallacea (from Pannell & White, 1988).

(Muellner et al., 2005). A distinct and on the plant surface, characters that often cryptic evolution in vertebrate dispersed derived clade of species in section Aglaia provide reliable and easily observed plants. Monographs in Systematic Botany was confined to the east of Wallacea, but delimitations between species in the genus. from the Missouri Botanical Garden 25: some widespread species remained nested in The Fiji endemics share a unique 639-659. the ‘Western Clade’, even though they combination of leaf characters: a rounded occurred as far east as Australia or New leaf apex and divergence of the lateral veins Pannell, C.M. (1992) A taxonomic Caledonia. Building on this phylogeny, we from the midrib at a wide angle of more monograph of the genus Aglaia. Kew performed a biogeographical analysis with than 60º. What the molecular analysis has Bulletin Additional Series, 16. London: the programme Dispersal Vicariance demonstrated is that these two character are HMSO for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Analysis (DIVA). The phylogeny was not derived independently in each of the Kew. calibrated using fossils of known age and species exhibiting it, but that they first identified as belonging to genera of acquired the rounded apex and widely Pannell, C.M. (2004) Three new species, Meliaceae. The biogeographical analysis divergent veins characteristic of the clade two new subspecies and five new demonstrated that the ancestral area for and that the variation in indumentum within combinations at the subspecific level in Aglaia encompasses the Malay Peninsula, the clade has arisen since. Aglaia Lour. (Meliaceae). Kew Bulletin 59: Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Palawan and that 87-94. the genus spread from there to the north, References west and east (Muellner et al., 2008). Two Caroline Pannell of the three sections of Aglaia (section Huxley, T.H. (1868) On the classification Research Associate Aglaia and section Amoora) have colonised and distribution of the Alectoromorphae and the east independently of one another. For Heteromorphae. Proceedings of the section Neoaglaia, there is no DNA Zoological Society of London: 294-319. The Trower sisters and sequence available from the east of the range to test this hypothesis. Within section Muellner, A.N., Samuel, R., Chase, M.W., George Claridge Druce Aglaia, the youngest clade (3 MY old) Pannell, C.M., Greger, H. (2005) Aglaia consists of species endemic to Fiji and the (Meliaceae): an evaluation of taxonomic next youngest (5 MY old) includes concepts based on DNA data and secondary The amateur naturalist has a special place in Australian species. Together, they form an metabolites. American Journal of Botany British botany. Much of the raw data that ‘Eastern Clade’, the youngest clade in the 92: 534-543. has contributed to our knowledge of the genus, and made up of species confined to taxonomy, ecology and biogeography of the the east of Lydekker’s line. No species from Muellner, A.N., Pannell, C.M., Coleman, flora of the British Isles has been obtained New Guinea or its satellite islands was A., Chase, M.W. (2008) The origin and through the exertions of the amateur. Yet included in this investigation. The evolution of Indomalesian, Australasian and amateur botany is often disparaged as Australian and Fiji clades include Pacific island biotas: insights from Aglaieae ‘natural history’, and flower painting is representatives of several of the (Meliaceae, Sapindales). Journal of dismissed as a social grace for fashionable, ‘morphological groups’ into which the Biogeography 35: 1769-1789. nineteenth - and early twentieth - century genus was informally divided by Pannell ladies. (1992, t.2; 2004, t.2). These had been based Pannell, C.M., White, F. (1988) Patterns of The most prominent amateur botanist partly on the trichome structure and the speciation in Africa, Madagascar, and the during the first three decades of the density and distribution of the indumentum tropical Far East: regional faunas and twentieth century was George Claridge

8 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 Druce (1850-1932). Druce was the and new, if reluctant, recruits to his focus of Druce’s interest: ‘we do not collect illegitimate son of a Northamptonshire Botanical Exchange Club empire. These two dried flowers. I think that we got thoroughly housekeeper, apprenticed to a wholesale and ladies of contrasting characters collaborated tired of them when we were young - some retail chemist, set-up his own retail on a project; Alice did much of the field old Aunts used to show us very bad pharmacy business in Oxford and retired a work and Charlotte the paintings. specimens whenever we went to see them very wealthy bachelor about 1904. On his giving us long histories of each flower. I retirement, Druce devoted himself to his The Trower Collection have never seen a good Herbarium’. primary interest, botany. Reactions to Druce Druce worked with Charlotte and Alice on are often polarized; this was true during his the watercolour collection from 1907, and Trower Main Collection lifetime and remains so to the present day. finally, in 1928, acquired the whole There are 1,817 illustrations in the Trower He was treated with a mixture of contempt collection, which he, in turn, bequeathed to Main Collection. All illustrations are on for his methods and admiration for the the University of Oxford in 1932. The three white paper of a standard size and crudely means by which he successfully achieved elements of the Trower Collection are mounted on brown paper. Each painting was his ends. Druce was essentially a collector unequal in size and importance. The general annotated in pencil with the following: plant of plants for his herbarium; he saw such botanical watercolours comprise the most family name, scientific and vernacular collections as the gold-standard of scientific significant part of the collection (Trower names, collection location and date. research. His first reaction to hearing about Main Collection; 1,817 illustrations). The Charlotte usually signed the bottom right- a rare plant in the British Isles was to go and second element is the collection of bramble hand corner of the sheet. Each painting, collect it. However, Druce was protective of illustrations (Trower Bramble Collection; even before she met Druce, usually the rarities he discovered but readily thirty-eight illustrations). The third element comprised the plant’s habit together with supplied specimens of very rare plants, roots is the illustrations made specifically for details of the flowers or fruits. After Druce and all, for artists to paint. Druce (Trower Druce Illustrations; nine had acquired the illustrations he made One of the artists Druce eventually trusted illustrations) and is the least significant. A additional annotations in his usual scruffy implicitly was Charlotte Trower and her selection of her illustrations were shown at hand. The annotations include the number sister Alice. ‘I shall be very grateful for any Royal Horticultural Society exhibitions in associated with his British Plant List (1928) information that you can give me - every 1924 and 1926 for which Charlotte was and indications of the plants that he supplied one who really cares for wild flowers is so awarded one Silver and two Silver-gilt to Charlotte, when these details were kind in helping us’; so Alice ended her Grenfell Medals. missing. introductory letter to Druce in April 1907. Charlotte almost always worked, early in Of the paintings in the Trower Main These were well-chosen words, as they the morning, from fresh plants that she or Collection, almost all bear year dates (1904- played to three of Druce’s most prominent her sister had collected from the wild, had 17; 1921-28), and nearly 29% were prepared foibles; enjoyment of the reflected glory of collected from their garden (originally from before the Trower sisters made their first the rich and influential and interest in seeds or plants transplanted from elsewhere) contact with Druce. The earliest painting in promoting his own botanical reputation. or were sent to them via their network of the collection is dated 2 February 1904 and Alice Trower’s letter was to start a collaborators. The results are minutely is of Alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) friendship and correspondence that would observed watercolours of great delicacy, and collected from Amwell Marsh (Hertford- last until her death in 1929. Over this period importantly, they give an excellent shire). The first painting that Charlotte made they exchanged hundreds of letters. impression of the plant’s Gestalt. The after her sister’s first visit to Druce in Trower sisters were not particularly Oxford was, appropriately, Oxford Ragwort The Trower sisters interested in dried plant collections, the (Senecio squalidus L.). The last painting, Charlotte Georgina (1855-1928) and Alice Trower (1853-1929) were born into a wealthy Hertfordshire family. On the death of their father, their eldest brother, took on the responsibilities of the family estate and his two spinster sisters. However, when their brother died suddenly in 1914, the Trower sisters took on formal responsibilities for the management of the house and the estate. The two ladies divided these responsibilities. Charlotte was responsible for the running of the farm; Alice for keeping the house. However, it is clear from their correspondence with Druce that Charlotte and Alice were a formidable partnership. The sisters’ strength of character is hardly surprising for a pair of women who successfully ran the family estate and were volunteer nurses during the First World War. The Trowers’ letters reveal a lively humour. For example, they nicknamed themselves the ‘chastened one’ (Charlotte) and the ‘unchastened one’ (Alice) and referred to Druce as their ‘beloved vagabond’ - running jokes that were maintained to the end of their lives. The Trower sisters were upper-middle-class ladies who had taken to their affections a tradesman. Through him they got access to plants that would otherwise have remained Tetragonolobus maritimus (L.) Roth, watercolour by Charlotte Trower 1924 from material collected by unknown to them, Druce got social cachet George Druce at Henley, Berkshire in July.

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 9 dated 30 April 1928, seven months before herbarium, and ensured that Charlotte’s George Claridge Trower’s death, was supplied by Druce and illustrations were representative of the was of the sedge ‘Carex oxoniensis Druce’ Rubus species they depicted. Rogers Druce's Birthday Book from Thame (Oxford-shire), one of Druce’s described Charlotte as ‘patient & last discoveries in the British flora. enthusiastic & deserves any help that I can There were two distinct periods of artistic give her’, yet he was highly critical of her activity, 1904-17 and 1921-28, associated work and only considered about one in four with the Main Collection. On average, 82 of her plates as characteristic. He also watercolours were completed per year, demanded that she prepare herbarium although the number of watercolours varied specimens for all of the illustrations since between one (in 1917) and 211 (in 1905). ‘in painting your great difficulty is to be The absence of activity between 1918 and sure that your pieces are quite representation 1920 is unexplained, but it does indicate that average ones’. Charlotte naturally turned to the sisters did not have the acquisitive Druce for advice on how to prepare passion of the obsessed collector. There is herbarium specimens of such difficult also a gap in the Trower’s correspondence material, a fact which is ironic given that with Druce during this period. Rogers was critical of specimens that Druce Excluding Alice’s own contribution, 76 had prepared for him. Trower appears to George Claridge Druce (1850–1932) was an people contributed plants for Charlotte to have been more realistic about the influential, though not uncontroversial, paint. By far the greatest contribution was difficulties of this project than Druce. The botanist who had a long association with made by Druce (272 plants) who regularly illustrations were eventually published in Oxford University, particularly with the sent plants during two periods. The Trower 1929, as black-and-white relief halftones, Botany Department. Druce was heavily sisters were widely travelled in the British with a subsidy from Charlotte’s will involved with developing and describing the Isles, especially Alice. The vast majority of (Watson, 1929). University's herbarium collections (Allen, plants in the Main Collection are from 2004; Black & Black, 2007). After his Britain and Ireland. The Main Collection Conclusions appointment as the special curator to the contains watercolours of 1,467 taxa. In Charlotte Trower’s watercolours were the Fielding Herbarium in 1895 his efforts terms of the taxonomic representation of the artistic product of one woman’s helped to restore the collection from the collection, the top three families are the collaboration with her sister, a team of dilapidated state into which it had fallen. In Cyperaceae (220), Asteraceae (160) and enthusiastic collectors and a pre-eminent addition to publishing detailed accounts of Fabaceae (101). There are some surprising amateur botanist. The letters that exist his work at the herbarium, Druce also omissions, for example only two grasses are between the Trower sisters and Druce reveal authored substantial floras covering four represented. Inevitably, serendipity played a collaborative network that extends across counties and a range of other works an important part in the watercolours that amateur and professional botanists, together appeared throughout his life. Charlotte prepared. Very rare plants (e.g., with casual collectors interested in natural Druce became the Honorary Secretary of Carex microglochin Wahlenb., Cypripedium history and art. Charlotte is a forgotten the Botanical Exchange Club (BEC) in 1903 calceolus L., Epipogium aphyllum Sw.) are illustrator of the British flora, the quality of and considerably expanded both the size and found in the Collection, yet common whose illustrations is marred by indifferent activities of the organisation. This position species, such as Hemlock (Conium reproduction of her published work. brought him into contact with many fellow maculatum L.), Heather (Erica tetralix L.) Through collaboration with her sister Alice, botanists and collectors around the globe. and Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia L.) and a network of botanical contacts, Involvement with local politics in Oxford are absent. In 1935, 501 of Trower’s Charlotte was able to draw a significant and links with the pharmaceutical trade watercolours were published in a proportion of the British flora. Furthermore, (Druce ran a pharmacy in Oxford from disappointing volume (Skene, 1935). her interactions with Druce gave her the which much of his wealth was derived) constructive criticism of prominent further widened Druce's network of friends Trower Bramble Collection botanists. Druce enabled her to gain access and colleagues. The Trower Bramble Collection comprises to some very rare plants. The corpus of In 1930 the BEC held a large party to 38 watercolours and black ink drawings of Charlotte’s work is a testament to her skill celebrate the 80th birthday of their secretary British representatives of the genus Rubus and tenacity. (Foggit 1931). Prior to the festivities many (Rosaceae). Unlike the watercolours in the This article is an abridged version of a of Druce's friends and contacts had been Main Collection, the brambles were more detailed analysis of the Trower solicited to send birthday greetings, and, if illustrated on either heavy-duty white card collection (Harris, 2009). Images from the possible, signed photographs of themselves. or white paper. Each painting or line Trower collection are available at Items received were collected together into drawing was annotated in pencil with the http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/?Trower. a handsomely bound scrap-book. The items following: scientific name, collection cover a range of materials including location and date. Charlotte usually placed a References photographs, letters, telegrams, cards and ‘CGT’ monogram on the sheet. The bramble newspaper cuttings. This scrapbook became illustrations are part of an aborted project Harris, S.A. (2009) The Trower collection. known as the 'Birthday Book'. devised by Druce to focus Charlotte’s Botanical watercolours of an Edwardian Druce passed away in February 1932 at his talents for botanical painting. Brambles are lady. Journal of the History of Collections home in Oxford. His will left a large bequest a notoriously complex group in the Advanced access published on 2 March to Oxford University, conditional upon the European flora, and she was advised that to 2009 doi: 10.1093/jhc/fhn019 University overseeing the stewardship of make the collection representative of the Druce’s personal documents, corres- British species, it would be necessary to Skene, M. (1935) A flower book for the pondence, herbarium specimens and paint 100 to 200 species. Charlotte needed pocket. Clarendon Press, Oxford. manuscripts (Fig.1). Amongst this the help of an expert on brambles; she found assortment was the Birthday Book, which is this in the aged Revd William Moyle Rogers Watson, W. (1929) British brambles. T. currently housed amongst the Special (1835-1920), Britain’s leading pre-First Buncle & Co., Arbroath. Collections of the Oxford Herbaria and World War batologist. Rogers had Plant Sciences Library. The Birthday Book enormous practical experience of bramble Stephen A. Harris represents a fascinating historical document variation both in the field and the Curator of Oxford University Herbaria

10 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 sufficient functionality to allow construction a b of the Birthday Book database. The database collects a variety of information about each item. The item's catalogue number, page number and physical description (picked from the 29 available categories) are mandatory and are always provided. Further information is optional depending on what is given on the item itself. Supplemental data collected includes dates, names, addresses and relevant notes about the condition of the item. Records of named individuals can be elaborated through incorporating details of job positions, memberships of learned societies, dates of birth/death and external web links to further biographical data where available. Finally, one or more photographs of the item are attached to each record. The data are stored in network of six linked tables (Fig. 2). Each table is dedicated to c d holding a particular set of information. For example, one table stores all the address information, another all the image data, and so forth. This structure allows separate sets of records of names, addresses and images to be maintained easily. In practice this allows us to append any number of names, addresses and images to an item's completed record without duplicating information within the database. This is important as some items in the Birthday Book have been signed by dozens of individuals. User- friendly data entry forms have been designed to simplify the process of adding records to the database (Fig. 2). Even after only completing cataloguing around one third (115 separate items) of the Birthday Book contents, the details of 226 individuals have already been recorded. In order to make the large quantity of data manageable, search tools have been constructed. The database can be searched Fig. 1 A selection of items from the Birthday Book. (a) Letter from the British Museum. (b) by a number of criteria including Portrait photograph of the President of Czechoslovakia. (c) Druce (right, sitting) in the studio of a portrait artist. (d) Letter from the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. individual’s names, locations and particular institutions. Searches can be limited to a particular type of material from one of the 29 categories. For example, we could search which, we believe, contains unique images catalogue the contents of the Birthday Book for all handwritten letters relating to John of prominent botanists and scientists of the and present the data as part of a searchable Smith. As the result of a search the database day. The contents are valuable to those who database to help tackle these problems. The is able to list every item that satisfies the study the work of these individuals, as well project has three fundamental aims. Firstly, criteria specified and indicate there locations as Druce himself. The book also serves as a to provide a detailed catalogue of the in the birthday book. Full records containing testament to the wide scope of Druce’s Birthday Books contents. Secondly, to images of items of interest can then be contacts and interests. A portrait photograph improve accessibility and awareness of the accessed and viewed. of Druce in his Mayoral regalia is books contents. Thirdly, to aid conservation There is still significant work to be juxtaposed with birthday greetings from the by using the database as a surrogate for the accomplished on the database. Tasks staff of the British Museum, the book itself, thus reducing unnecessary include the completion of data entry from Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and handling. the book, the development of more flexible a former President of Czechoslovakia! As preliminary steps in cataloguing the searching and data reporting tools and Sadly, the existence of the Birthday Book contents of the book we began by completing appending digital to images to is not widely known (it is not even listed on numbering each page and giving each item a each of the records. There are two further OLIS, the Oxford University public access unique catalogue number. The documents objectives to the project. Firstly, at least a electronic library catalogue) and within the book were divided into 29 subset of the information in the database accessibility is currently limited to a handful separate physical description categories. For will be integrated with the herbarium of researchers. Additionally, the book itself example, telegrams, handwritten letters, database that uses BRAHMS. Secondly, it is in a fragile condition. Damage to the typed letters and photographs with is hoped that the database can be made spine and binding has occurred and some handwritten captions. A relational database available to all researchers by distribution items have come loose from the pages due was then constructed using Microsoft across the internet. There will be substantial to poor mounting. We have undertaken a Access. This program was selected because technical challenges to overcome in project in the Plant Sciences Library to it is a widely used and familiar package with accomplishing these objectives.

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 11 Visitors Several group visits were organized during 2008 and we collaborated with Plant Sciences Library, especially with Anne Marie Townsend, Special Collections Librarian, to put on displays of herbarium specimens and associated literature unique to Oxford. The first of the group visits took place on 4th April when 48 members of the EBHL (European Botanical and Horticultural Libraries) Conference at Merton College, organized by Roger Mills (Biosciences and Environmental Sciences Librarian) came to the Department. Likewise on 16th June, 22 visitors from the Swedish Linnaeus Society were shown a display of herbarium specimens and associated literature with special reference to Carl Linnaeus and Johan Jacob Dillenius, Sherardian Professor of Botany at Oxford (1732-1747). They were also shown the Flora Graeca. We collaborated with the Linnean Society of London in arranging this trip for members of the Swedish Linnaeus Society to visit various venues in London and Oxford. A report of their excursion to the UK was published in The Linnean (Newsletter and Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London) 24: 9-11 (Oct. 2008). Another visit in collaboration with Plant Sciences Library took place on 14th July when 20 visitors attending the ALLCU (Association of Libraries in Land-based Colleges and Universities) Conference at Wadham College Oxford were also given a tour. The focus of the display for this group was an introduction to the herbarium collections over four centuries and included the herbaria's oldest 'Book Herbarium', that Fig. 2 The relational database is constructed from a set of six tables. However, of Gregorio da Reggio dated 1606 (see OPS from the user's perspective an item's details are entered using a single form. 13: 9-10), following right through to recent publications and specimens collected by research staff in the twenty-first century. On 13th August 2008 we were pleased to However, the potential benefits of News from the Herbaria welcome four staff from the Royal Botanic acquainting a wider audience with the Gardens Kew and show them our methods contents of this remarkable document are of mounting and storing specimens and certain to justify the time and effort 2008 was a busy year for the herbaria in various examples from the collections of involved. which we welcomed in the region of 150 OXF and FHO. In November, four visitors on various occasions. There was a members of the Sheffield Botanic Garden References steady flow of loan material being sent out Florilegium Society visited also to see how from OXF and FHO, although we received a specimens are prepared and stored etc with a Allen, D.E. (2004) Druce, George Claridge smaller amount of loan material than in view to starting a herbarium at the Botanic (1850-1932). Oxford Dictionary of previous years for staff and students as Garden in Sheffield associated with their National Biography. Oxford University various research projects were coming to botanical paintings of plants. This was Press. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/ completion. Also a substantial number of followed by a group visit in December by article/32898] specimen images were sent via the internet students studying for a Diploma in as electronic loans, this being an increasing Environmental Conservation at the Black, A. & Black, C. (2007) Druce, trend. Work continued on databasing the Department of Continuing Education, George Claridge. Who was Who (1920- collections and digitising type specimens. University of Oxford. 2008). Online edition. Oxford University Almost 90 specimens of miscellaneous Several artists also visited to draw from Press. [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/ taxa from OXF and FHO have been lent to herbarium specimens and carpological article/oupww/whowaswho/U208783] the Oxford University Museum of Natural material (see article and drawings by Sarah History for a new botanical display in the Simblet on pages 13-15). Foggit, G. (1931) Dr Druce's Eightieth museum highlighting the range of plant Birthday. Report of the Botanical Exchange diversity. This is the first time there has Fielding-Druce (OXF) Club for 1930: 479-496. been a 'permanent' public display area for the collections from Oxford University We are grateful to a number of people who Oliver Bridle Herbaria. have offered help in determining specimens Library Assistant in the collections, especially to Professor Dr

12 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 Paul Maas from the Netherlands who miscellaneous Meliaceae; miscellaneous Unstill lives. determined a batch of previously unnamed Ochnaceae and Passiflora, Passifloraceae. Robert Schomburgk collections from All specimens are now databased before An artist working in the Guiana, also to Dr Bruno Ryves who is being sent out on loan and any name gallantly naming as many grasses as we can changes on return of the material can be herbarium send him at Kew. We are also thankful to added to the database (BRAHMS) quite Julian Harber who made a return visit to re- easily. The complete 'determination' history sort the OXF Berberis specimens into a of any specimen can be recorded. For two years now, my studio door has only more logical order after studying them in Most of the material received on loan from been visible as a brass handle poking out connection with a Flora of China account. other herbaria during the same period came from between two pages of a book. Many This material includes many type specimens for research studies by John Wood on the visitors forget where it is, and so stand of cultivated origin, cultivated and families Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae and puzzling, often in front of the wrong wall, as preserved by the Rev. Lesley Ahrendt. Polygalaceae. A number of other specimens they try to remember where and how they New accessions to OXF included 320 of Tecoma (Bignoniaceae) and Mimosa came in. I am an artist, and I write and miscellaneous specimens collected by Dr (Fabaceae) were received for study by Tiina illustrate books about my passion for Caroline Pannell in Portugal on the Sarkinen. Miscellaneous specimens of drawing. Dorling Kindersley (DK) has undergraduate field course in 1988/89, with plants from Trinidad and Tobago were commissioned three of these. Each one is a few additional specimens collected by received on loan for Rosemary Wise, filled with hundreds of images, and so is Professor David Mabberley and Mr Peter Botanical Artist, to draw for a Trinidad and planned and made flat across the walls of Placito. These are intended to be a source Tobago Checklist project funded by the my studio. Long rows of developing pages, of reference material from the area in Darwin Initiative [see OPS 13: 3 (2006) & taped edge to edge, cover every vertical Portugal annually visited by second year OPS 14: 3 (2007)]. About 400 specimens surface, from ceiling to floor, including the students. A few specimens of Bromeliaceae previously sent to Oxford on loan for door, so that all of the chapters are from Venezuela, which had been presented research studies were returned to other developed in unison, every page can be seen in 1978, were also databased and herbaria – this material mostly comprised at once, and visitors may find it a little hard incorporated. A few miscellaneous plants specimens of Agathis (Araucariaceae) which to leave. from the Shetland Islands, sent by Mr had been sent for study by Timothy Waters, The book that surrounds me now is an Walter Scott (co-author of the Flora of the a former D.Phil. student in the Department. introduction to plant morphology for artists, Shetland Islands) were added to the Druce Members of the systematics research group a drawn and photographic journey into the (British) Herbarium, plus a number of new have donated many newly collected wonder of plants. It features parts of around lichen specimens presented by Professor specimens gathered on fieldwork during 500 species, ranging from enormous and Mark Seaward and collected mostly from 2008. New accessions to FHO comprised gorgeously unfamiliar tropical flowers and the UK. mixed specimens, especially legumes, fruits, to the beauty that is in the pavement During the month of August, Cicely collected from Peru and Bolivia by Colin milk thistle, colonies of down pipe Marshall, an undergraduate, was employed Hughes, legumes collected in Brazil by liverworts, and tufts of city moss; always to database and incorporate specimens and Marcelo Simon, more legumes collected by there to be discovered, if only we'd slow to help generally. Tiina Sarkinen and colleagues in Argentina, down and look. Botany for the Artist will be This year a greater number of specimen Peru and Bolivia. Other accessions included published by DK in the autumn and it has images were sent as internet loan material specimens of Tecoma (Bignoniaceae) been made substantially possible by the than specimens actually sent through the collected by Tiina Sarkinen and a batch of generosity, support, and immensely rich post in the traditional way. Specimen Tecoma & Delastoma (Bignoniaceae) resources of the University of Oxford images sent included those of Berberis, collected by Marcelo Simon. Gifts of Botanic Garden and University Herbaria. Berberidaceae; Corydalis, Papaveraceae; material from other herbaria included A herbarium is a treasure trove for an Erophila, Brassicaceae; Gentiana, specimens of Acanthaceae of the Flora of artist, a scientific and visual library that Gentianaceae; Heiracium, Asteraceae; presented by the Makino informs through touch and sight as much as Linaria, Scrophulariaceae; miscellaneous Botanical Garden of Japan. Other material by the written word. Unfamiliar things can Lauraceae, miscellaneous Marcgraviaceae was sent from Queensland, Australia, of be picked up and held in the hand; and Xylaria, Xylariaceae. Other loans Toechima (Sapindaceae) and material of experienced in terms of their density, requested comprised material of Aglaia (Meliaceae) from the Australian weight, surface and sculptural form. Dry Anthonotha, Fabaceae; Lonchocarpus, Tropical Herbarium in Cairns Australia. fruits are all named, dated, filed and packed Fabaceae; Machaerium, Fabaceae; Koeleria, Additional specimens collected by members into a box or bag, with folded notes, hand Poaceae; miscellaneous Loranthaceae, of the systematics research group in South written or typed by their collector. These Ochnaceae and Passiflora, Passifloraceae. America were sent as gifts to various detail plant habit and terrain, and every item 642 specimens were returned to OXF from herbaria. This material included specimens holds the excitement of its find. Many dates loan and 10% of these were types. of Calceolaria (Calceolariaceae) collected are quiet reminders of wars and world The complete OXF holdings of marine by Colin Hughes and sent to E, duplicates of events, and evoke thoughts of the algae were databased and a number of the Adesmia (Fabaceae) collected by Colin experience of plant hunting in those times; specimens were exhibited in a temporary Hughes and Tiina Sarkinen sent to SI in risks and dangers faced; modes of transport exhibition at the Oxford University Museum Argentina and several of Tiina's South taken. A herbarium preserves the united of Natural History from December 2008 to American duplicates were sent to UEC, work of thousands of people, from ebullient February 2009 (see front cover, caption and Brazil, NY, AAU and E. adventurers who risked everything on news item on page 2). expedition, to quieter lives lived nearby, and Serena Marner the infinity of their shared story spills out of Daubeny (FHO) Herbarium Manager every opened drawer. When I first visited the Daubeny Herbarium, I knew tropical dry fruits would During 2008 over 800 specimens were sent have an important place in my book, but I on loan to other herbaria from the FHO See Oxford University Herbaria database at: couldn't imagine what they looked like. collections. The larger loans included http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/?oxford Cupboards were soon opened and I was material of Anthonotha, Lonchocarpus, introduced. A tiny parachute made of Maclearium, Macrolobium, all Fabaceae; Back issues of OPS can be viewed at: http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/OPS.html beetles wings balanced on my palm. It was

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 13 an Aristolochia fruit, and I was told that of global currents and can turn up on the bringing fellow artists, designers, writers, despite its fragile beauty, its parent would west coast of Wales. Near to these, two tiny and students from the Ruskin School, to see have stunk like a rotting sheep. Something pairs of demonic looking rams horns lay on the university herbaria, and to begin using heavier, hairier, and the colour of mustard a windowsill, each one heavy as a pebble. this great resource for themselves. Every dust, was labelled Sterculia oblonga. Racks More pods I was told, but these ones hook one of these guests has left the collection of pods in wriggly frames showed me the into bears. beaming, and with a plan for their imminent notion of a replum, followed quickly by The first time an artist visits a herbarium, return. visions of African Entada pods, two metres and they are invited to open some of the long, dropping shiny seeds, the size of piano cupboards and drawers, a new world rushes Sarah Simblet wheel rests, into the east Atlantic ocean, into their head, that is an utter feast for their Ruskin School of Art where they become clues to the movement imagination. I have since taken the liberty of

Fruit of Entada chrysostachys (Benth.) Drake Drawn by Sarah Simblet

14 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009 A selection of fruits drawn by Sarah Simblet : (top left) Shorea macrophylla (de Vriese) P.S. Ashton; (top right) Aristolochia ringens Vahl; (bottom left) Proboscidea sp.; (bottom right) Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb.

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 15 Mapping diversity using BRAHMS 6.5

During the last year, functions have been added to BRAHMS to generate distribution summaries for taxa and based on these, to calculate diversity indices for the selected geographic scale. Results are displayed in spreadsheets and/or mapped to Google Earth, ArcView or another GIS. For documentation on all procedures, see http://dps.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/documentation /Default.aspx: Mapping > Quick Links.

Distribution calculations By selecting a Taxa x Geographic The upper part of the BRAHMS distribution-diversity calculation form. combination on the distribution-diversity A separate BRAHMS table lists Stars and calculation form (see top right), the process Two ArcView extensions their adjustable numeric weights, which are creates a summary table based on the The Conservation Assessment Tool (CAT) determined by mean global range on a selected data sources. With Family x ArcView extension developed by the GIS degree square resolution of the species of Country selected, the table would include Unit, RBG Kew generates preliminary each Star. The GHI field in the diversity one record per family-country combination conservation assessments (IUCN Categories table sums the species x Star-weight value together with totals and ranges for each and Criteria) based on extent of occurrence per selected area, divided by the species combination (collection total, altitude range, (EOO), area of occupancy (AOO), number total. Areas with many species may have a lat/long boundaries, etc.). Similarly, the of sub-populations and number of locations. lower GHI than areas with a small number selection Species x Grid cell would create The species level results can be stored in a of high scoring species. Hotspots can be one record for each species-grid cell BRAHMS species link file. detected at any scale. combination. Cell sizes can be defined. When mapping, lat/long range values can be adjusted to area centre, origin or average. Google Earth mapping Grid cells can be plotted as polygons. BRAHMS plots directly to Google Earth Summaries can be mapped directly from using individual points or polygons (grid BRAHMS or exported elsewhere for further cell boundaries). Colours, symbols, point analysis. An explicit export link is provided size, text and labels are controlled within for PC-ORD for multivariate analysis. BRAHMS using map style setting options. Google Earth is ideal for displaying Diversity calculations diversity analysis results at different scales. Displayed below, records of Vatica on the Distribution results are further processed Malay Peninsula with V. cimeria in red; A into a separate ‘diversity indicators’ table 1/4 degree cell map of all conifer taxa in with one record for each area or cell. Each Mesoamerica plotted as polygons, style set record includes totals of families, genera, on Rarity Weighted Diversity, red cells with species, taxa and collections/plots. highest index values. Data from FRIM, Preliminary conservation assessment using Also calculated are a Chao2 species Malaysia and A. Farjon, Kew respectively. CAT, for Kalanchoe marmorata from East richness estimate, a Rarity Weighted Africa showing 9 sub-populations and the Diversity (RWD) index and the Genetic extent of occurrence (T. Pearce, Kew). Heat Index (GHI). Chao2 estimates species richness based on the number of species that are found once, twice, and more often than twice. This formula is important as it estimates the true number of species, not the number actually found, effective when mapping diversity for areas with different collection densities. The RWD calculation (grid cell calculations only) first calculates the number of cells each taxon in a given cell occurs in. Taxa that occur in fewer cells are assigned a higher value. Finally, values Anthonotha species per grid cell mapped are summed for all species occurring in the using an ArcView extension developed at cell to create a cell total. Wageningen University (J. Wieringa, Wag.) GHI values are based on a weighted species scoring system devised by William ArcView extension download links are Hawthorne. These are 'bioquality' scores provided via the Mapping > Quick Links that can be applied to samples of species at reference given in the introduction. The any scale, and show the degree of localness analysis functions discussed here have been or edemicity of the species in the sample. developed in collaboration with W. Each species is assigned a Star value (black, Hawthorne (Oxford), J. Wieringa (Nether- gold, green, etc.), these representing global lands) and the GIS unit, RBG Kew. distribution, refined by local factors such as local distribution and taxonomic relatedness. Denis Filer, Research Associate

16 Oxford Plant Systematics OPS 16 May 2009